Man gets 12-year prison term in appeal trial for confining girl

Feb 21, 2019 | News On Japan

Feb 21, 2019 (Japan Today) - The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for abducting a teenage girl and keeping her in captivity for two years from 2014, annulling the lower court ruling that gave him a nine-year jail term.

Prosecutors had said the earlier decision in March last year was too light considering the vicious nature of the crime. They had demanded a 15-year prison term for Kabu Terauchi, who abducted the girl in a car as she was on her way home from a junior high school in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on March 10, 2014.

The high court acknowledged that Terauchi, 26, is able to take full criminal responsibility for his actions.

"It was an extremely cunning crime with the victim's mind manipulated by calling the girl by her name, which he confirmed in advance," Presiding Judge Atsuo Wakazono said in handing down the ruling.

Terauchi had also appealed the decision by the Saitama District Court, with his lawyers claiming that it was wrong for it to rule that he was fully competent to be held criminally liable due to schizophrenia.

While the lower court determined the physical confinement was moderate as Terauchi left a window unlocked or went on a trip, Wakazono said the man controlled the girl, now 18 years old, psychologically and those aspects should not be taken into account.

According to the ruling, Terauchi held her captive first at his apartment in Chiba, east of Tokyo, and later in another apartment in Tokyo's Nakano Ward until March 2016, causing her to suffer severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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